fbpx

Your Teenager Wants to be Vegetarian
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Listen to my QR77 Radio Program here:

Every Monday at 4:15pm on QR77 Radio join me and Angela Kokott host of Calgary Today with our segment “You are what you eat” to get the goods on healthy eating. If you missed my segments I will be archiving these audio discussions on my blog here.

Episode 27 – Your Teenager Wants to be Vegetarian

Listen to Episode 27 here: Your Teenager Wants to be Vegetarian

Progress gradually

I recommend all vegetarians start off slowly. Remind them that they need to be open to embracing new knowledge, foods and cooking skills. Working with a dietitian and purchasing some books and vegetarian recipe books is a good idea.

Make a deal with your teenager that you will support them with their vegetarian diet if they can prove to you they can do it in a healthy way.

Encourage them to start off with substituting a few traditional meat-based meals per week with vegetarian meals.

Then, if this is going well, they should become a lacto-ovo vegetarian who consumes dairy foods and eggs before ever considering complete elimination of all animal-derived foods.

Replace, don’t eliminate

Many teenage vegetarians dislike a wide range of veggies, so when they begin skipping meat, poultry and seafood, it means they could be subsisting on vegetarian pizza, french fries and sweets.

This, of course, doesn’t supply enough balanced nutrition to grow and develop properly. You may think your teenager is old enough to fend for themselves, but I rarely see teenage vegetarians achieve optimal nourishment without help from parents.

Many vegetarians don’t realize it is about replacing, not eliminating.

If your teen chooses not to eat meat, poultry or seafood that supply protein, iron and vitamin B12, they need to incorporate foods such as legumes (beans, lentils and chickpeas), nuts, seeds and soy foods (such as tofu or veggie burgers) instead.

As a rule of thumb, I would suggest aiming to eat these foods at least twice per day. For example, a day that includes black bean soup for lunch and a tofu based stir-fry for supper is a good start.

If dairy foods are not consumed, be sure to incorporate enough calcium-and vitamin D-fortified beverages and foods: aim to have three to four cups of fortified soy milk or fortified rice milk per day.

Be mindful of eating disorders

At my nutrition counselling practice, we treat teenage vegetarianism as a red flag for an eating disorder. While there are certainly political, environmental and other valid reasons to embrace a vegetarian lifestyle, sometimes the decision may stem from an attempt to lose weight -so it’s important to understand the underlying reasons.

Signs of a potential eating disorder may include body image dissatisfaction, restriction of junk foods or past foods typically enjoyed, increased exercise, not wanting to eat in front of others, using the washroom after eating, dieting or weight loss.

Body image issues in a growing adolescent and eating disorders do not go away on their own and instead require comprehensive help from health care specialists

Turning a potential eating disorder around early is far easier than waiting until the problem is deeply ingrained.

You, as a parent, have an intuitive sense to pick up on your teenager’s relationship with body image and food -trust this.

Five great vegetarian meals:

– Baked potato topped with canned beans in tomato sauce, grated cheese or soy cheese and a tossed salad.

– Taco salad with black beans, salsa, avocado, taco chips and salad dressing.

– Vegetarian pizza with peppers, onions, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese or soy cheese.

– Stir-fry with mixed Asian veggies, tofu, sesame seeds or other nuts and teriyaki sauce served over noodles or rice.

– Chick pea or lentil Indian curry with veggies served with naan bread or rice.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

As seen in

  •  

Success stories

"I am a psychologist in private practice and it is very important to me that my clients have the best care with other health care professionals. For that reason Health Stand Nutrition is my only source for exceptional Dietitians. Andrea and her team provide highly knowledgeable, compassionate, and real world support to my clients who require assistance with food lifestyle. I trust my clients to them and you would be in excellent hands making them part of your health care team."
Adele Fox, Psychologist
“This is the first time I feel satisfied; my cravings have diminished dramatically and I have a whole new relationship with food. I am eating guilt-free for the first time in my life. My energy has also dramatically increased and I feel great!
Rhonda Jenkins, Nutrition Counseling Client
“The Dieticians at Health Stand Nutrition help you to take action on the science behind eating well by making it practical, understandable, and fun. Their office is cozy and not at all clinical or intimidating. I felt like I was sitting down with a really smart, caring friend who wanted to help me make the best choices for my lifestyle and food preferences. They really are the best in the business.”
Marty Avery, Nutrition Counseling Client
“I have come to think of the program as a one stop shopping excursion for everything one needs to know about creating a joyous relationship with food and our bodies. In a single word, the course has gifted me with freedom from the punishing rigidity of disordered eating, old stories that never were true, and body dysmorphia that did nothing but make me lose sight of a body that has done everything I've asked, despite my careless dismissal of her needs. Now when I look in the mirror I find myself shifting from harsh criticism to gentle gratitude.”
Lynn Haley, Pursuit of Healthiness Online Course Participant
“I spent 3 hours when first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I learned more from my Dietitian about food in those 3 hours than I had learned in all the years of my life. I also love the newsletter, there is always something to learn.”
Peter Whitehead, Nutrition Counseling Client
“I didn’t realize how strong my “diet mentality” was, and all the rules I had in my head about food. I was in a cycle of reward/punish/binge/cringe. I booked with your business very reluctantly, on the repeated advice of my doctor, to get my slowly rising cholesterol levels in check. I thought I knew everything about food, and my behaviour with food, but I was definitely re-schooled. My weight is creeping down, I feel good about my diet, exercise, body image, and lifestyle.”
Amy Floyd, Nutrition Counseling Client
“Thanks Andrea for an amazing presentation, I have heard all positive remarks from attendees and the evaluations show the same sentiment. It is really gratifying when a speaker does their “homework” and weaves in our profession’s day to day challenges within their content, you did an awesome job of this! You truly took the “die” out of Dietician! Your information on healthy eating and simplifying how we can work towards this as we are all so busy really hit the mark. Andrea connects very well with her audience; she is energetic, funny, and very approachable.”
Carole Ann LaGrange, Transfusion Medicine Safety Officer

Event Planner for Laboratory Diagnostic Imaging Annual Event

I am a family physician who sees patients with a myriad of eating concerns – from wanting to know how to plan healthy meals for active families, to weight loss, to eating disorders, and so on. I cannot recommend the Health Stand team highly enough. I have worked with (and been to!) other Dieticians in the past and too often find that they just ask for food logs and make suggestions that are easily obtained online or in books. The Dieticians at Health Stand offer much more than just telling clients what they “should be eating.” In contrast, the team really does more of a counselling practice, and they work hard to help their clients learn more about why their eating habits may be off track and not optimal for them, as well as helping people to effect change at a deep level that, most importantly, is sustainable for lifetime health.”
Dr. Deb Putnam, Family Physician

Nutrition Counseling Client & Referring Physician

“I am a busy mom, with kids in high level sports, working full-time downtown, and running our home acreage outside the City. I now have the knowledge and tools I need to plan for and manage the chaos of meal planning.”
Gillian Gray, Pursuit of Healthiness Online Course Participant
“As a construction company, we select speakers who can relate to our industry and its employees. Andrea’s message was delivered with humor and empathy. She makes people feel as though they can make changes without leaving behind every favorite food. Andrea focused her presentation on healthy eating as a way to keep energy high throughout the day. This message and the way it was delivered resonated with our predominantly male, blue collar culture. I would highly recommend Andrea as a speaker for groups such as ours. She will get your message across without alienating anyone in your audience – which is a huge hurdle when trying to introduce a wellness program in the workplace!”
Stephanie Wood, HR and Safety Manager

Fisher Construction Group, Burlington, WA

I found my Dietitian warm, funny, and skilled at teaching nutrition concepts without the overwhelm. The general approach of each session was to mix science with emotion, which was exceedingly effective in helping me shift my perspective on food from one of anxiety to one of joy and curiosity.”
Erin Kronstedt, Nutrition Counseling Client
“Excellent presentation! What a refreshing change to have a speaker inspire rather than “lecture” about nutrition. Your captivating stories, tips and overall approach to healthy eating uplifts and puts people at ease. It was great to hear we don’t need to strive to be perfect eaters, and that small changes really can make a difference in how we feel and in our health. Thanks to Andrea, we have solutions to our everyday nutrition challenges that can actually work in real life!”
Tina Tamagi, Human Resources

ARC Resources Ltd.

“Had I not joined this course I would have struggled with no focus, low energy, and mindless eating. Excellent teaching and motivation. This is not just a course, it is a nutrition club with mentorship, support, and connections with other people with similar situations.”
Lorri Lawrence, Pursuit of Healthiness online course participant

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This